Page 301 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

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Essential Vocabulary
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haughty (HAW tee) adj. having or showing great pride in oneself and disdain
for others
• Two of King Lear’s daughters were very haughty, and it was not until it was
too late that he came to appreciate Cordelia.
• Politicians never act haughty in public for fear that they’ll never be elected
again.
•A haughty person is a snooty person.
[haughtily adv.] [Syn. arrogant]
herbivore (ER bi VAWR) n. plant eater; an animal that eats only plants, as
distinguished from a meat-eating carnivore and an omnivore (an animal that eats
both plants and meat)
• The largest dinosaurs that ever lived were herbivores.
• There must be more herbivores than carnivores; think about it.
[herbivorous adj.]
heterogeneous (HET oer oh GEE nee uhs) adj. made up of unrelated or
dissimilar parts; varied; miscellaneous
• The population of the United States is probably more heterogeneous than
any other country’s.
• Considerably less heterogeneous is the population of Japan.
• You’ll find heterogeneous colors in a bag of jelly beans.
hew (HYOO) vt. 1. to chop or cut with an ax or knife; 2. to shape something by
chopping pieces away with an ax or knife
• Marcia often hews trees to cut up and use for firewood.
• Native Americans hewed totem poles from tree trunks.
• Many native cultures make hewed pipes and knife handles from wood,
bone, and ivory.
[-ed, -ing, -n adj., -er n.] [Syn. hack]
hieroglyphic (HY ruh GLIF ik) n. 1. ancient Egyptian picture writing; 2. any
picture writing —adj. illegible writing
• The Rosetta stone made it possible to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics.
• Hieroglyphics predate the invention of alphabets.
• Many a teacher has told me that I have hieroglyphic writing and need to
work on my penmanship.
hormone (HAWR mohn) n. 1. a substance (secretion) formed in one organ of
the body to cause some kind of action in another part of the body; 2. such a
preparation produced artificially
• Adrenaline is a synthetic version of the hormone epinephrine, which is
secreted by the adrenal glands.
• Hormones from the pituitary gland govern our growth rate.